


Reach

by jughead_jones



Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Height Differences, M/M, Meet-Cute, this is sickeningly cute i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-02 04:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8650828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jughead_jones/pseuds/jughead_jones
Summary: Philip just can't reach things. Lukas is a hero. Cuteness ensues.





	1. The bookshelf

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry lukas is just so tall and philip is so small i just needed to write this

Philip was so embarrassed. Libraries aren’t really places for embarrassment but here he is. It’s the school library so he guesses it makes some sense. In his English class, everyone had already been assigned the book they were reading weeks before, so Philip was sent to the library to check out the volume for himself. Only, it was on the top shelf of a particularly tall bookshelf, and he couldn’t find any of those special library stools. He would ask for help, only the librarian is shorter than him and that wouldn’t be any better.

The only person in the library who could reach that cursed book was a ridiculously tall blond boy sitting in the corner on his phone. He’s popular and pretty. He’s also quite intimidating, and Philip doesn’t even know his name so he wouldn’t feel very confident sauntering over to him and asking for help due to his height. But he still had no way to reach the book, and his teacher would probably write him up for skipping class if he didn’t return soon.

So, he swallowed his pride, walking slowly over to the taller boy. He took a deep breath, “Hey dude, um, could you, uh, help me reach a book on the top shelf? Sorry to bother you, uh, I have to be back in class and I just can’t reach-” He was cut off by a short laugh coming from the blond. What, was it that bad?

Philip is ready to just march back to class defeated when the boy stands up, smiling, “Yeah, man, where is this unattainable book of yours?” He deflates with relief. Philip shrugs his shoulder towards the bookshelf in question and starts toward it, pointing at the novel that he needs. The other boy reaches up, grabbing a book. When he reaches his arms up, the bottom of his shirt trails up his stomach and Philip can’t help but look. A soft, pale stomach stares back at him, peppered with fine blond hairs down the center. He quickly averts his eyes back up to avoid being caught, but the boy is already looking at him. He doesn’t draw attention to what Philip had been doing, just hands him the book.

“Thanks,” He looks at his hands, and then he realizes the boy had grabbed the wrong book, “Oh! Um, sorry, this is the wrong one, I need the one next to it.”

“The white one?”

“Yeah, the white one.” He’d been so distracted he hadn’t seen the taller boy reaching for the wrong book before. When the boy reaches up for a second time, Philip can’t help but peek back down at where his shirt lifts a second time. His stomach is soft, untoned, but he still has nice v-lines. This time it’s quicker, and when he looks back up, his gaze is met for a second time. A soft, confused pair of eyes meet his, but they quickly change from questioning to playful.

The boy comes into Philip’s personal space, crowding him against the bookshelf, “Catcher in the Rye, huh? My class is reading this too. Are you the new kid everyone’s talking about?”

“Uh, Philip.” He exchanges books with the boy, watching for a third time as the bottom of his shirt reaches up with him. When the taller boy turns back to him, he looks him over, up and down, several times. 

“Lukas.” He gives him a smirk, and walks back to his corner.

Philip heads for the doors, his feet carrying him through the halls back to class. Lukas. A pretty name for a pretty boy.


	2. The Lockers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip is still too short, Lukas is still his knight in shining armor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm posting twice today because i just felt like the beginning was too short so here's another short chapter and together they equal a normal chapter update. have fun reading

Philip had been wondering for the next few days whether he would ever speak to Lukas again. He was walking through the halls, headed to his locker before his lunch period. He’d been hugging his books to his chest with both arms wrapped around his things, walking while daydreaming about Lukas and his stomach peeking out in the library. He’d been returning to the library whenever he could, seeing if he would encounter the tall boy again. 

But at the moment, he smacked right into someone wearing a letter jacket, surrounded by other people. The other guy turned around, grabbing Philip by his own jacket, shoving him up against the lockers, “What the fuck are you doing?” He looked Philip over vehemently. Catching sight of the way he’d been carrying his books, he smiled. It was more just barring his teeth. But he yanked the things out of Philip’s hands, holding them above his head like a child would. “Got something precious in here somewhere? Maybe a love letter?”

“Stop, dude. Come on, it was an accident I’m sorry-”

“Yeah? You’re sorry? Good.” And with that, he reached a little further over Philip’s head, placing his things on top of the lockers. Why? He’s acting like a literal child over this. All Philip had done was accidentally bumped into him. 

“Matt! Leave him be, damn it,” A voice boomed from down the hall. It was Lukas. He was quickly approaching. When he reached where this Matt character had him up against the wall of lockers, he shoved him aside, “Get lost.”

“Oh yeah? What do you want with him?”

Lukas looked angry, and Philip just hoped there wouldn’t be a fight over him.

“I want him to be left alone.”

“Fine,” Matt took his arm off of Philip, freeing him from being mushed up against the lockers, “Have your way with him.”

Lukas ignored him, turning to Philip, “You okay?” He looked him over, top to bottom, several times. Like in the library, but with more concern. 

“Yeah, uh. Thanks for that.” He straightened out his jacket. 

Philip wanted to ask him if he had lunch at this time, if he wanted to go to the library with him. He wanted to ask so bad, to see what Lukas was into, what he liked to do, and disliked. Who his friends are, whether or not he would want to be friends with Philip. He needed friends.

Instead, he just looked up toward the top of the locker cabinet, and back at Lukas. Questioning with his eyes, not wanting to ask for help in the hallways. All this just because he’s short. Lukas gives him a half smile, reaching up to grab his things. Today his shirt is tucked in, which disappoints Philip more than he ever wanted it to. When he looks back up, once again the boy has caught him staring. He’s smiling though, even if it’s a small smile, it’s there. 

He takes his things back from Lukas, “Thank you. I really appreciate what you did for me.” 

“Oh, it’s no problem. Any time, really.” He’s still got a small smile playing on his lips. 

“What do you have this period?”

“Lunch, what about you?”

“Lunch,” He raises an eyebrow, “Would you maybe want to come to the library with me?”

“The library? No way! No one wants to spend lunch in there.” Philip’s heart drops.

“Oh. Ha, yeah, you’re right. I-”

“How about you come sit with me in the cafeteria?” Lukas seemed to have realized he panicked Philip for a second, because he was speaking softly.

“Uh, sure.” Really, on the inside, he was screaming with excitement. Someone asked him to sit with them at lunch! Not just someone, either, it was Lukas! Philip couldn’t believe it.

 

~

 

Once the bell had rung, signaling that it was time for their next class, Philip felt like he was on top of the world. Not that he’d never had friends, but in a new town, it felt good to be integrated into a new group of people, accepted.

On his way to English, he pulled the copy of Catcher in the Rye out of his bag, making sure the sticky note annotations were still in place. Lukas touched his arm, gazing down at the book with a small smirk, “You doing anything after school?” Philip was floored.

“I don’t know, am I?” Lukas smiled at him, big and goofy.

“Yeah, you’re coming on a bike ride with me.”

“A bike ride?”

“Yep, a bike ride.”

“Alright see you then,” Philip sauntered away, feeling as though he’d just drunk a full pot of coffee. He couldn’t wait for the final bell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know where to find me


	3. Helmets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this isn't really a height difference thing but philip still needs some help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long its time for finals!!

Philip didn’t have his bike with him at school today, he’d taken the bus this morning. The rest of classes, he’d fretted about what he was going to tell Lukas. He couldn’t cancel on him, he just couldn’t. He simply wanted this too much. 

When the last bell finally rang out, he shoved his books in his bag and hightailed it back to his locker where he hoped Lukas would still be waiting for him. 

He was.

Relief and hope flooded through Philip like a broken glow stick. Then the feelings seemed to freeze in his veins as he realized that he still didn’t have a bike. Lukas looked up from his phone and, seeing Philip, smiled at him. He smiled back at him, feeling warm inside knowing that the other boy was pleased to see him. 

He took a deep breath, “Um, Lukas I really want to come with you but I don’t really have a bike to-” He was cut off by Lukas’ laughter. What? Why was he laughing? Was this all just some joke he was playing that Philip had fallen for?

“Dude. We aren’t riding regular bikes; you’re coming with me on my motorbike.”

“Oh,” Philip felt his chest deflate with relief once again. “Really? You have your own?”

“Yeah, man. C’mon!” Lukas pushed at his arm to direct him toward a set of doors that he assumed led to the student parking lot where Lukas’ bike would be. Philip’s heart stuttered in its place; if they would both be on the same bike, he would have to be holding onto Lukas’ waist. With his groin pushed snug against the other boy. 

He tried not to think about it, but that only made him focus on it completely. What if the vibrations of the bike accompanied with being so close to Lukas sparked some sort of reaction? He’d have to think about shitty things in order to keep himself under control. Not that he was some sort of animal, but he really liked Lukas, and he didn’t want to scare him off. At least not like that.

Once they were out in the parking lot, Lukas kept touching him, guiding him this way and that. Eventually they came to a standard racing motorcycle, there were two helmets, one on the handlebars and one tied under the back of the seat. Lukas handed him the second helmet and put on his own, leaving Philip to wonder how the hell to put it on. He thought he could just slip it on but there were weird straps and things on the inside that restricted him from putting it over his head. Once again, Lukas started laughing at him, but it wasn’t malicious. “Dude, you have to do it this way,” Then he took the helmet from Philip, adjusting the straps and slipping over Philip’s head himself.

He'd taken a second to brush Philip’s hair out of his eyes and off of his forehead. Philip froze. Woah, that had to mean something, right? Guys usually didn’t just touch his hair like that. But then the helmet is on and it’s time to get on the bike and he needs to freak out about a new issue: getting on the bike. 

Lukas gets on first, throwing his leg over the seat like he’s done it ten thousand times and that seat is where he belongs. He turns to Philip, “You getting on?”

Philip tries the same move, but since the bike is made for someone as tall as Lukas, it doesn’t quite work, and he stumbles a bit as he straddles the seat of the bike. Muffled laughter comes from behind Lukas’ helmet. He shoves a bit at the tall boy’s shoulders and then wraps his arms around his waist loosely. “You’re gonna need to hold tighter than that if you plan to stay on.” More muffled laughter, but this time he can feel it where his hands lay. The muscles contracting with Lukas’ breaths send something warm through Philip, and he wraps his arms tighter around the taller boy, tempted to lay his head on his shoulder.

Lukas does something and the engine roars to life, sending a jolt of excitement through Philip. Why did he think this could go so wrong? He doesn’t know, but it’s probably just general anxiety. 

He doesn’t know where they’re headed, but the wind and the way he can feel each muscle on Lukas abdomen clench and unclench give him a heady sense of happiness. They go on like that for a while, and Philip lets his eyes close as he focuses on the stability and firmness of Lukas.

When they do stop, Philip opens his eyes and he sees that they’re in a clearing with lots of trees, a lake, and many, many blackberry bushes. He looks around to make sure this isn’t someone’s property, but it all seems very spontaneous and wild. It’s beautiful. Philip wished he had a better camera than what was on his phone, but he took it out and snapped a few shots while Lukas parked the bike and tied the helmets up. He snuck a few stills of Lukas with his mussed-up hair while he could, not knowing if he would ever share them. 

Lukas looks up from where he’s working, and then makes his mind up on something because he takes a few very bold steps toward Philip. He grabs the collar of his t-shirt, turns them around, pushes his hand against Philip’s chest until he’s backed up into a tree, and kisses him so hard he can’t hear or see anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed, as always you can find me on twitter @tr0yeslvans and on tumblr @ waldneshea

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! comments/suggestions welcome and encouraged!! as always you can find me on twitter at @tr0yeslvans and on tumblr @ waldneshea


End file.
